Autoblog

The automotive sales sector is in a major state of flux as consumers continue to run from SUVs and pickup trucks into smaller, more fuel efficient cars. One manufacturer hit especially hard by this transition is Chrysler, a company that recently posted the worst fleet average fuel economy numbers of all major automakers in the U.S. due to its truck-heavy lineup. Still, the automaker has built up a large supply of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep utility vehicles that they have got to get off dealer lots somehow. To ease consumers into the fuel-thirsy utes, Chrysler has introduced new incentives of zero-percent financing for 72 months on the 2008 Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen and Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander.

While the lack of any financing charges will certainly impact the bottom line, it is nothing compared to the losses the automaker has been hit with over its past lease deals. In fact, truck and SUV residuals are so bad these days that Chrysler Financial has gone so far as to completely cut leasing out of its available portfolio starting August 1. The financing deals announced today are scheduled to continue through Thursday, July 31.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

It's no secret that Chrysler has some overlapping models in its lineup. Case(s)-in-point: it's hard to make a rational argument that Jeep should be offering both the Compass and Patriot (not to mention Dodge selling the Patriot's platform sibling, the Caliber) or the Grand Cherokee and the Commander. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango barely pretend to be different vehicles and there's no reason to sell both the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro when they're basically the same machine. This revelation is as obvious to Chrysler's new management as it is to us, and Chrysler President Jim Press, says as much. "We're going to stop overlapping, we're going to bring everything under one roof. By doing that we will have more products in the markets we are not covering."

Also marked as redundant by Press are the Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans, but as easy as it may be to pinpoint overlapping models, fixing that problem may prove more difficult. Dealers will need to begin offering the whole Chrysler line of vehicles if this strategy of "bringing everything under one roof" is to succeed. Expect to see drastic changes taking place in the next four to five years.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Considering that the Aspen is nothing more than a rebadged and gussied up Dodge Durango, it should come as no surprise that today Chrysler has announced a hybrid version of its ute to accompany the Dodge Durango Hybrid on the market in 2008. Both the Durango and the Aspen will feature a Two-Mode hybrid system – the one developed jointly with General Motors and BMW – paired with a 5.7L V8 HEMI engine featuring cylinder deactivation. Overall fuel economy should increase by 25%, while Chrysler predicts each utility vehicle will see their fuel economy in the city rise by some 40%. Each SUV will be wearing the above badge to indicate their greenness.
We're eager to see this Two-Mode hybrid system in action, and expect the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid to be the first on the market. AutoblogGreen has got some seat time scheduled with one in the near future and will report back with a full evaluation of how this technology works hauling around these behemoths.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Want a $45,000 new vehicle but don't want to pay for it? Easy! Have your constituents pay for it. Of course, this requires crossing over to the dark side running for and winning a congressional seat, but once clear of that hurdle, it's fat city!

US Representative Stephen Lynch has been seen wheeling around in a Chrysler Aspen. We wouldn't care so much, but it appears that while the car is registered to Congressman Lynch, his personal ATM campaign fund made the $10,000 downpayment (aided by a meager $2,000 trade-in from Lynch's 2002 Envoy), and will be making the $766 monthly payments as well as the roughly $6,500 yearly insurance premium. Sounds like a sweet deal to us. Smells kinda like... pork. Perhaps it'd be less galling if he only bought what was really necessary, like a Durango. Or a Yaris. Something small would certainly save on emissions, wear and tear on the roads and go much further on a gallon of fuel. Why is it that everyone who fancies themselves important must ride around in an overly large vehicle being overtly inefficient?

[Source: Boston.com]

The votes are in, the judges have, uh, judged and it's official: Democrats control the House.

No, wait. Wrong election. The Truth About Cars readers and staff have chosen the 2006 winners (losers?) of The Worst Automobile Today award.

For those with stomachs too queasy or hearts too weak to read criticism of the domestic auto industry, we recommend you find something else to read. Those TTAC folks get kinda brutal.

Just to keep you in suspense, the list of TWAT winners, with excerpts of TTAC's witty criticism, is after the jump.

The headline of Chrysler's press release pretty much says it: "Chrysler's First SUV is Industry's First Full-Size SUV With Trailer Sway Control." Many automakers have loaded up their SUVs with ways to make hauling trailers easier and safer, like General Motors' Quadra-Steer technology (which unfortunately went by the wayside starting with the 2006 model year), but Chrysler claims that this innovation is the first of its kind.

Like Electronic Stability Control, sensors monitor a driver's intended path and compare that with what the vehicle is actually doing. When the trailer following the vehicle starts to sway, the sensors gauge whether the sway is as a result of the driver's intended steering input, and if not, engages the opposing front brake to counteract the sway. When the sway continues on the other side of the vehicle, the other front brake is applied, eventually eliminating the problem.

The Aspen hit the floor of the North American International Auto Show earlier this year with mixed reviews -- many critics thought the beast was ugly and represented a bad move for Chrysler as SUV sales tanked thanks to high gas prices. Chrysler dealers were clamoring for an SUV, however, and the sharp interior, distinctive Chrysler styling (complete with Crossfire-esque ridges on the hood) and high level of utility may go a long way in giving Chrysler the edge it needs to make a profit comeback for the second half of the year.

Trailer Sway Control will also be extended to the Aspen's stable mate, the 2007 Dodge Durango.

[Source: Chrysler]

To its credit, DaimlerChrysler has largely escaped the mudslinging surrounding big incentives as of late, content to let General Motors and Ford play cash-on-the-hood Jenga. But now it appears the square-rigged Jeep Commander may be Chrysler's white elephant. To say that the SUV's sales are in a free-fall would be a bit of a misnomer, as they've yet to truly ascend to the heights that parent DCX has been hoping for.

Driving off the lot with incentives in excess of $5,400 just seven months after the vehicle's launch, the big ute is being pawned off with givebacks $1,803 higher than average. The 101-day supply at the beginning of March is likely proving worrysome to Jeep dealers as DCX nears the Chrysler Aspen launch, an SUV arguably a little too close for comfort in terms of size, capacity and price. Other dealers, however, don't appear to be too troubled about cultivating Aspen-on-Commander inter-showroom cannibalism, arguing that the dolled-up Durango looks too much like a Chrysler for Jeep buyers, and vice-versa.

Still, some dealers are reporting an uptick in recent sales, and concerns that Commander would crib sales from the brand's Grand Cherokee have proven less problematic than originally feared.

[Sources: AutoWeek, JeepNewsNow.com]